This invention relates to a process of purifying air and especially to a process which generates positive and negative ions into the air along with the release of a predetermined vapor produced from a liquid mixture containing a citrus extract and a colloidal silver.
In the past, it has been known to utilize humidifiers for adding humidity and moisture to the air. Humidifiers typically use a number of ways to add humidity to the air which includes having a plate that rotates continuously that partly engages a tub of water and which releases the moisture when air is blown through the moisture ladened plate. Other types of humidifiers have been known to use the vibration of water when the water is forced to resonant at a predetermined frequency. When the water modules are forced to vibrate, it increases the kinetic energy to create evaporation. It has also been taught in the past to ionize air which is commonly done by having the air pass over high voltage electrodes which ionizes the air passing thereby. Ionizers of different kinds are available in the household appliance market for ionization of air molecules when they are in contact with an electrode which normally has a high negative polarity electrical potential. The amount of air ionization is a function of the potential of the electrode. The electrode potential typically is kept below a certain value so as to not produce ozone in the air since ozone production is undesirable because less ions are produced and because ozone has been considered harmful to a person's health. Efficiency of ionization is lower in a humid environment since the water molecules are ionized causing a drop in voltage at the ionization electrode due to the conductive of water vapor in the air. In addition, very humid air is more suitable for ozone production.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,572 to Bonzi, a device for humidifying and ionizing air is provided in which air is humidified and ionized in the same appliance by keeping the ionizing portion and the humidifier portion far apart in order to avoid negative ozone forming effects so as to produce a large number of ions. In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,069 to Hahne et al., a air humidifier is taught for humidifying the air which includes an electrostatically negatively charged high voltage electrode for producing negative ionization of the air. In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,963 to Partridge, a self-balancing bipolar air ionizer is provided which produces positive and negative ions in a housing having an air inlet and outlet and a blower. In Applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,720, a salt air freshener apparatus and method is provided for making an air freshener of coated, precast or sculpted salt material. This patent also makes an air freshener using a dry cement mixed with sodium chloride and which also uses a citrus extract, glycerine, propylene glycol and water added to the mix and can utilize a second liquid of colloidal silver.
The present invention utilizes an apparatus which allows the purifying of the air of a larger area by having the forced air having a predetermined chemical mix being vaporized and dispersed within the area while simultaneously generating both negative and positive ions within the same apparatus but with separated electrodes. The negative and positive ionization of the air produces a purifying action as does the dispersion of the liquid vapor being produced in the purifying apparatus. Since the vapor is not water vapor, the ionization assists in the vaporization and combines to form a synergistic effect with the ionization to purify the air in a building.